


Matchsticks

by HappiKatt



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Adam-Centric, Additional Warnings by Chapter, Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, Discussions of abuse, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Gaslighting, More tags to be added, Multi, Slow Burn, Trauma Recovery, because I said so, cannot stress that enough, dark subject matter at times so we'll see, discussions of trauma, everyone is neurodivergent, rating might go up this one rides a line, sarchengsey is established pynch is not, that one hurts me but its where were at for this one
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-15 19:21:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29813199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HappiKatt/pseuds/HappiKatt
Summary: Adam's been out of Henrietta for years, now. He's okay. He's fine. He's not exactly living the life he wanted, but he's...surviving. He likes working with cars, even if it's not what he really wanted to do with his life, and his girlfriend kinda gets on his case a lot, but that's okay, too, he's fine. He's lived through worse.Except Henrietta comes and finds him, even miles away, when a raven boy strolls into his life and dredges up all kinds of traumas, old and new.(Or: An exploration of trauma, abuse, and the ways cruel people trick others into burning themselves.)
Relationships: Adam Parrish/Original Character(s), Henry Cheng/Richard Gansey III/Blue Sargent, Richard Gansey III & Adam Parrish, Ronan Lynch/Adam Parrish
Comments: 9
Kudos: 51





	Matchsticks

**Author's Note:**

> oh boy katt's writing about trauma and abuse again here we go, 
> 
> this one's been evolving through discord conversations for quite a while! writing a full on lengthy no magic AU feels very weird to me, the fantasy guy, but I still really like what it's shaped up to be so far! Also, fair
> 
> so i am going to be posting warnings at the start of every chapter! good news is, this one's only really got one and it's not a very rough one. things are chill....for now, anyway. enjoy gansey being a dork 
> 
> Warnings: several extremely irreverent references to/jokes about an attempted murder (made by the victim)

It starts like this: Richard Campbell Gansey III, soon-to-be-22 year old college student and resident of thebustling city of Washington, D.C., has a car, which he loves. Unfortunately, the car repays his love by breaking down at inopportune moments. It has done so since he got it, and shows no signs of stopping its perpetual mechanical temper tantrums.

He’d been lucky for about a year or so—the mechanic he’d found out on the road somewhere in Honduras while on a wonderful, year-long, gap-year road trip with the two people he loved most in the world had managed to get the Pig running, for it, very smoothly. No major breakdowns for a great stretch of time, just a few of the cantankerous vehicle’s more minor hiccups.

Unfortunately, whatever magic had kept the old car running finally ran out by a busy intersection in the middle of the city, and, after getting thoroughly chewed out by a few people and making several apologies, he wound up sheepishly asking the tow truck driver to just take him to the nearest mechanic available.

One very awkward ride in a tow truck later found Gansey at the shop, frantically bouncing between typing out an email to his professor at Georgetown about being late to class, and desperately trying to get a hold of the one friend he had who could drive and wasn’t busy that day, while an older man looked in mild perplexity and amusement at the Pig’s inner workings. Eventually, with no small amount of effort, Gansey managed to get a ride to class, and later that evening, he was able to pick his car up again. And that could have been the end of it.

If not for the fact that, two days later, the Pig broke down again.

Fortunately, by a certain metric of fortune, this time, the breakdown happened in the parking lot outside the building where he lived, which meant that the only person to comment on it was Henry, who made up for it by at least sticking around long enough for the tow truck to arrive. But when the tow got there, Henry still had his own business to head off to for the day, which left Gansey to face the perplexed mechanics on his own.

“I really am sorry,” he said, “It’s not—I don’t blame any of you at all, really, she’s always been a temperamental thing…”

The mechanic who’d tended to the Pig a couple days ago waved a hand at him, peering in frustration under the hood. “We’ve had trouble cars before, we’ll sort it out. Hey, Parrish!”

“Yeah?” came a voice from further inside the shop.

“You’re good at puzzles, get over here!”

To say that Gansey had been expecting anything at all wasn’t exactly accurate; he hadn’t had time to form expectations. It was just a shout for a coworker. But the young man who stepped into view somehow still surprised him, if only because he was, indeed, a _young_ man; everyone else working at the shop seemed about middle-age. The newcomer—Parrish—flashed Gansey what he had learned from Blue to think of as a customer-service-smile that did nothing to chase away the bone-deep exhaustion in the man’s eyes.

“Is it a puzzle, or do you just want to take your lunch break early?” the newcomer said, his voice soft yet somehow pointed, as he leaned over to take a closer look at the engine.

“I didn’t call you over for sass,” the older mechanic said. “Just help this guy get his car workin, will ya? Swear I had the thing working like a dream when it was in two days ago.”

“And yet, here it is again,” said Parrish.

Gansey liked him immediately.

“Just fix the car, smartass,” said the older mechanic, shoving Parrish’s shoulder and starting to walk away. “You can talk prices over in the office, sir, I’m sure you remember where it is.”

“Ah, right,” Gansey said, realizing the last comment was directed at him, “Thank you, I’ll—“ but the man had already walked well away.

“Don’t worry about that,” said Parrish, “Rogers just tends to be pretty one-track, he doesn’t really like to stick around for small talk. So what kind of problems have you been having with your car, Mr…?”

“Ah, Gansey. Just Gansey, please, no ‘mister’ needed,” he said. “And it’s—ah, it’d be easier to say what problems I haven’t been having, honestly. She’s a mess of a thing. Breaks down whenever the universe seems to find it funniest and today I couldn’t get her to start up at all…”

He did his best, carrying on describing some of his understanding of the car’s various problems. All the while, Parrish listened with his head tilted to one side, looking with an analytic gaze over the Pig’s inner workings, occasionally asking a clarifying question here or there.

“Alright,” he said, after a while, “I’ll see what I can do, then. Gimme a bit.”

And then, after a few attempts to start up small talk (which garnered only a polite but firm suggestion that Gansey should leave Parrish to his work), and once he had stopped into the main office to talk about what payment would likely be (hard to say until after the problem had been identified, really), Gansey ended up killing time by taking a walk around the area. He had nowhere urgent to be today, and he was fairly certain he wasn’t going to be able to get another ride anyhow—Blue and Henry were both busy, Noah was almost certainly still asleep judging by when he’d last texted Gansey, and the only reliable way to get Ronan to answer his phone was to call Noah and tell him to pester Ronan, so…Walking. Seeing the sights. Wandering.

It was nice, for a while; he wasn’t as familiar with this part of DC, and there was a lovely little antique bookstore that he managed to kill about an hour in, but beyond that, it was a fairly average little chunk of the city without much of interest to speak of.

So, he found a Starbucks, settled into a corner, and tried to be patient. Flipped through a few pages of the book he’d ended up buying; he tried not to get too much into it, though—he’d bought it because it looked like something Blue would love, and he didn’t want to get too into it before she got the chance. So he turned to his phone, only to discover that he’d forgotten to charge the thing last night; it was doing alright, but certainly wasn’t going to last all day.

…Surely, it wouldn’t be _too_ untoward to just, just check in, he thought, and winced at the thought of Blue chiding him for not letting the poor man work. No, he’d left his number for them to call, he should wait.

He lasted about another twenty minutes before giving in and stopping by again.

But as he walked back in, fully expecting to be sent away again, one of the other mechanics nodded at him and smiled. “Oh, good timing, we were just about to call you back.”

Gansey blinked several times, thrown off for a moment. Regathering his composure, he said, “Ah, nothing too terrible, I hope?” Knowing his luck with the Pig, it was probably bad news; he was already starting to work out the feasibility of relying on friends for rides for a few days when the man continued.

“Nope! Parrish is right about done, should be good to go pretty soon here.”

Another beat passed as Gansey tried to process. “Really? That quick?”

The man grinned. “Yep.”

“But—I—I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone get the Pig running again that quickly, are you—I— _really?”_

The man just laughed, clapped Gansey on the shoulder, and headed off further into the shop.

Sure enough, to Gansey’s utter shock, the hood was down on the Pig and Parrish appeared to be buffing out a small grease stain next to a headlight. He smile and stood up as Gansey approached, tucking the rag he’d been using into a pocket.

“Hey, that was quick,” he said. An oil stain had made its way to his cheek at some point in the process of fixing the car, and he looked a bit more tired, if that were possible, but it was tempered now by a sense of satisfaction hanging around him.

Gansey was flabbergasted. “I think that’s my line,” he said, a grin creeping over his features. “Usually it takes a lot longer than this to get her running again, how did…”

Parrish shrugged. “We got a lot of old cars where I learned how to fix ‘em,” he said, “So I’m pretty familiar with what to expect. Most of the guys here are used to a lot newer models, I think.” He tipped his head, and a more lopsided smile than the customer service look he’d kept on this whole time crept across his features. “Still, it’s nice to have a bit more of a challenge. This car’s really seen some action, huh?”

“Oh, you’ve no idea,” Gansey said, with a laugh. “I—thank you, really.”

“Just doing my job, sir,” he said, snapping back effortlessly into the more closed off, perfectly polite facade. “You can talk about payment at the front office, I think. I need to see if I’m needed anywhere else, unless you have any more questions?”

“Ah—no, I think that’s…everything,” he said, still feeling oddly off-kilter and somehow energized. “Although, knowing the Pig, I’ll probably be back here fairly soon.”

Parrish raised an eyebrow.

“Not because of you, I mean, she’s just—she’s cantankerous,” he said, flustered, only to blink in confusion when Parrish laughed.

“No, it’s okay, I get it,” he said. “Anytime, then. I’m here most days, and if I’m not, the other guys here are very good at what they do, even if they’re used to newer models. They can take good care of her, too.”

“Of course. Of course.”

They exchanged what to Gansey felt like a very awkward farewell, and Gansey went to go and pay for the services rendered, his mind reeling.

* * *

“And this time, I swear, I was hardly out the door when I was called back in, it was incredible!” Gansey said, nearly knocking over the tall glass of lemonade next to his arm. Henry sipped on his own, listening with a mischievous grin. The outdoor cafe bustled with activity around them. A third lemonade, this one cherry flavored—Henry’s was strawberry, of course, while Gansey’d just stuck with the standard version—sat in front of a third seat, currently unoccupied.

“It’s been the same one every time, then?” Henry said, gesturing at nothing with his glass.

“Yes, he’s—that’s the other interesting thing, actually, or, one of many, he seems like an interesting fellow, but as best I can tell he’s actually the youngest there by a fair margin? About our age, I’d guess, and everyone else there’s quite a bit older from what I saw, but, well, second time I brought the Pig into this shop they called him out to fix her, and then and every time since, he’s gotten her running in no time at all. He’s quieter than they generally seem to be, too, but in a way that doesn’t feel like _shyness,_ its—I don’t know how to describe it. It’s like he’s thinking, all the time. Like he’s—“

“Gansey?” Blue’s voice cut into the conversation as she walked quickly towards their table, hanging her backpack over the third chair. “I thought we wouldn’t be seeing you here for at least another hour, didn’t you text and say that the Pig broke down again?”

“Right, that’s actually sort of what we were just talking about, actually—“

“Three’s new mechanic is a wizard, apparently,” Henry said, and took a very loud sip of his lemonade as Blue sat down.

“I—you know what? Honestly, if he told me he was one, I think I’d be forced to believe him,” Gansey said with a laugh. “It’d certainly explain why he’s so consistently been able to get the old girl running so quickly.”

“He’s got it bad, Blue,” said Henry, faux-mournful. “He’s going to leave us for the cute mechanic.”

“I’m—I’m not, I wouldn’t, I—you. You are teasing me,” said Gansey, taking a moment to try and calm himself despite the way his cheeks were burning, “You are teasing and I am overreacting, and I am calming myself down now.”

Henry winked. “Got it in one, nice save,” he said, smiling. “You do really like this guy, though, huh?”

Gansey sighed. “I mean, as much as I can claim to like someone I’ve barely met, yes,” he shrugged. “I’d like to know him better, but it’s. Well. Jane can vouch for how bad an idea it is for me to be pestering someone too much at their workplace—“ Blue snorted at this, but said nothing—“and, unfortunately, that’s the only place I’ve ever met him. I don’t even know his given name, honestly.”

“Must be real good at fixing those cars, then,” Henry said, with another wink, “to have come so close to stealing you away from us.”

Gansey fondly rolled his eyes.

“It’s about more than the car, though, isn’t it?” Blue said, a knowing look in her eyes.

“I—yes, honestly,” he said, “That’s the least of it. But. I don’t really know that I have the words to explain what it is that has me so—so—“

“Smitten.”

“ _Intrigued,_ ” Gansey said. “I am _intrigued,_ he is an intriguing individual. There’s depths to him, there’s—oh, the extra lemonade there is for you, Jane, hopefully we got the order right.”

“Aaah, you two are the best,” she said, claiming her prize. “The air conditioning in my car’s busted again, and I couldn’t find any parking in the shade, God, I was dying the whole drive back here.” She waved for Gansey to continue while taking a big swig.

“We aim to please,” Henry grinned.

“Right. Well. He’s…” Gansey tapped his fingers on the table. How to explain it, though? Parrish seemed to hold himself back, wrap himself in a protective cloak of exhaustion and politeness, but there were hints of so much more, of wit and perseverance and…

Gansey was very familiar with the ways that different spaces could feel almost like different worlds. He’d grown up raised in one of them, and hadn’t particularly liked it there; everything had been so polished and clean and uptight, all perfectly contained, all perfectly shut off from the realities of the world. Parrish…For all that he had been holding himself back, something about him, his whole presence, the exhaustion in his features, the freckles and oil stains and hair that refused to not fall in his face, something about him absolutely rejected artifice, despite all his attempts to outwardly embrace it.

“You two know how I…well, it’s been pointed out that a lot of the time, I’m drawn to people who have qualities I wish I had, right?” Gansey said, picking up his own glass and swirling it with one hand.

“Really, I had no idea,” said Blue, completely monotone. Henry snorted. “You’ve never mentioned it, ever, first time it’s been brought up. I never would have guessed.” The longer she spoke, the more Henry’s giggling accelerated toward helpless laughter. “Absolutely never heard anything about Henry’s relentless positivity or my refusal to compromise on who I am and how I choose to express myself and my beliefs, tell us what you really think why don’t you.”

“Right, well,” Gansey said, stifling a laugh of his own, “Fair point. I suppose there’s just…there’s something about this fellow that strikes the same chord.”

“Well, now I definitely need to tag along next time the Pig breaks down,” Henry said.

“I—no, Henry, come on,” Gansey said, “He’s—no matter how much I _want_ to, I really doubt that I’m going to get the chance to properly make friends, he’s…he’s a bit closed off, you know? It’d probably make him uncomfortable if he realized I was talking about him like this, actually, um. Maybe I shouldn’t be.”

“It’s perfectly fine, Richardman,” said Henry, another trickster’s grin on his face, “The perks of finally embracing bisexuality include being entirely allowed to gossip about cute boys all you like—“

Gansey groaned, affectionately, an action he never would have thought possible before Henry. “You are _incorrigible,_ you know that?”

“I try.”

* * *

By the sixth or seventh time that Gansey had to bring the Pig in to the mechanic in DC, he was getting very familiar with the immediate area. So, one somewhat humid Tuesday afternoon, he dropped the once-again-misbehaving car off, fully intending to go and get a smoothie at a tiny shop nearly invisible in the shadow of the next-door warehouse-type clothing store, only to be surprised when Parrish actually waved him back over.

“Honestly,” he said, looking over the engine almost judgmentally, expression lightly obscured by uneven, slightly messy hair, “I think I can see what the problem is already, it’s not gonna take more than half an hour. You can stick around if you really want.”

Gansey perked up. “Oh, really? Is—is that alright, with, um—“

He shrugged. “I mean, I don’t think anyone really cares much either way, as long as you don’t stop anyone from working. Martin brings his son along sometimes, which. Is probably not super safe, honestly, but no one’s gotten on his case for it, so I doubt they’re gonna care that you’re here, either.” Parrish paused halfway through picking something out from the meticulously arranged set of tools nearby. “Anyway, kind of a waste to chase you out when I’d just be calling you back soon as you’re out the door, so.” 

“Well, thank you,” said Gansey, smiling. “I mean, I was probably just going to go hang out at the Starbucks again, but—“

“You can if you want,” said Parrish. “But you don’t have to. Up to you.”

To say that silence fell would be deeply inaccurate, as the shop was full of quite a lot of noise, between the various people working on cars, the indistinct conversations between some of the workers, and, to a very attentive ear, the background noise of what sounded like an oldies station playing in the background on a radio somewhere. But there was definitely a lull in the conversation, and while Parrish seemed content to get to working, Gansey felt awkwardness settle over him like a sheet.

After a moment, he cleared his throat. “So, uh, Mr. Parrish, if you don’t mind my—“

“Adam,” said Parrish.

“What?”

“My name’s Adam,” he said, leaning out briefly from under the Pig’s hood.

“Oh! Of course,” said Gansey.

“Sorry, though, what did you wanna say?” said Adam, ducking back under with a different tool in hand.

Gansey blinked. “Ah,” he said, after a moment, “I’ve gone and forgotten. Sorry.” He wasn’t sure if he really had a plan for what he was going to say, come to think of it, but it felt so awkward, just standing nearby while the man worked.

Another lull settled over the conversation. Gansey fidgeted in place, wondering if it’d be impolite to pull out his phone. It probably would; he could practically hear his mother’s voice, chiding him for doing so when someone had so kindly offered for him to wait around. Then again, he could only imagine his parents would’ve already been out the door without giving Adam hardly the time of day, so they likely wouldn’t get caught up in this sort of scenario to begin with.

“Mind if I ask you something?” Adam said, still mostly under the hood.

He was looking at Gansey, he realized, with a very hard-to-parse expression. It still had that overall customer-service-fake-pleasantness to it, but there was something piercing underneath. Something…searching.

“Certainly,” said Gansey, “although I think I’ve told you just about all I know about the Pig.”

“No, it’s…” Adam paused. “Well, I guess it’s kind of about the Pig, but not about how it works. I think I’ve got that about figured out by now.”

It was the same look Adam had had when he first looked under the Pig’s hood, Gansey realized. Like he was trying to mentally pick apart whatever he was looking at, figure out how it all ticked. Looking over every minuscule mechanism and how they all fit together. It was almost unnerving, being the focus of that searching stare.

“By all means,” Gansey answered. 

Adam paused again, finished adjusting something, and then leaned back. “So. I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but, I mean…you’re obviously pretty well off, right?”  
  
“…Right,” said Gansey, confused. “I…yes, I come from a family with a fairly decent amount of money.”

Adam nodded. One piece of the mechanism confirmed, apparently. “Why not just get another car, then? It’d probably be cheaper than constantly fixing this one up, at this point. I know that some people really…” he paused again, biting his lip briefly. “I know there’s a lot of stock people in certain circles place in older cars, but usually, with a car like this, it’d be retired to a garage somewhere. So. Why stick with this one?”

“Ah,” said Gansey. “That’s a question, alright,” he laughed. “It’s…” 

He could wave it off. He could come up with any number of half-true answers that wouldn’t be particularly exposing. But…Every time he’d come here, even beyond Adam’s skill at getting the Pig to run, he found himself _liking_ Adam all over again. And here he was, offering his first name and the start of a conversation, Gansey realized. An olive branch. An invitation. Why, Gansey couldn’t say, but, well…if Adam was going to leave an opening, Gansey might as well take the leap.

“I think…I think cars say a lot about a person,” he said. “You know? They communicate something about someone. They’re…a different sort of first impression. And my father has quite a few very nice, very sleek, well-running cars, and that’s all fine and well, but…I don’t want to be the kind of person who matches up to one of those, you know?”

He shifted his weight. Adam had paused in his work, and was looking at Gansey very intently.

“I know how I look to people when it’s just me,” he said, quietly. “I was raised by politicians, it’s ingrained. I’m sort of…working on it, to be very honest, but it’s hard, turning off all of the…” He waved at himself, frustrated. “Alright, so. Here’s an example for you. My mother collects glassware, which I know already paints a very obnoxious picture of my family, I’m sure, but it’s something she does. Plates, in particular. And we never use them; she keeps them up in glass cabinets, always on display, and proudly shows them off to whoever stops in. And it feels so…tacky, to me. Wasteful. I’d never say so to her face, and, God, I’m the last person to have any right to criticize someone else for obsessing in any way over a hobby, but it’s…It’s that she’s collecting something that’s meant to serve a purpose, only to then lock it away somewhere where it’ll never serve that need. And to me, I can’t stand the thought of someone’s first impression of me being like that—some beautiful car that’s up to date, brand shiny new, looking like it’s never been within five miles of a drop of mud, never had to actually work the way it’s supposed to. I want to look like someone who’s…who’s actually real, who’s more than just some artificial stand-in pretending to be something important.”

He smiled, nervous. “And anyway, truth be told, the car’s been through so much with me by now, that I…It’d be like shutting away a piece of myself. I’d rather stick with something old and out of date that needs a lot of care than jump to something new just because it’s inconvenient.”

Another lull.

“Huh,” said Adam, very softly.

The spell broken, Gansey coughed politely. “Ah, sorry, that was all probably a bit more than you were looking for,” he said, laughing.

“S’alright,” said Adam, “My fault for asking.”

And then…he seemed to come to some sort of decision, stepping away from the car. “One sec,” he said, peering around the shop a bit. “D’you think anyone’s watching us?” he said, out the corner of his mouth.

Gansey glanced around. “Um. I don’t…think so, no?”

Adam cast his own eyes around, surreptitious, one last time, and then took a deep breath. “Alright, c’mere,” he said, waving Gansey back toward the car. “It’s been literally the same problem the last three times you’ve come in here, I’m gonna show you how to fix it.”

Gansey felt the smile crawl across his face with a force he couldn’t hope to stop. “What, really?”

“Yeah, just, be quiet, okay?” Adam flashed a lopsided grin more sincere than anything Gansey’d gotten from him so far. “I doubt I’d get fired over it, but some folks might get annoyed at me for losing us money. It’s just that it’s kind of a waste of my time to constantly be fixing something that frankly you could do on your own.”

“Of course, of course,” said Gansey, keeping his voice low. “Thank you so much!”

It didn’t take very long, and Gansey was very careful to look every bit the uninterested rich man he knew everyone assumed he was whenever someone else came close, but, true enough, the fix looked very simple, although Gansey’d need to start keeping some extra things in the Pig from now on.

“There’s a few other minor things I could show you that’d help keep her running a bit more smoothly,” said Adam, “But I don’t think I should do that right now. Maybe next time?”

Gansey beamed. “I’d be delighted! I—“

And again, he stopped, and thought about olive branches and invitations and this very tired, very interesting mechanic who had so quickly become someone that Gansey desperately wanted to get to know, and took another leap.

“…Actually,” he said, “This may be a bit forward of me, but, well, on Fridays, myself and some friends always get together for drinks. Keep in touch, you know. There’s this little hole-in-the wall place, the Endless Spring, and…I think I’d very much be appreciative if you’d join us sometime.”

* * *

“—And he said he’d think about it,” said Gansey, for what felt like the millionth time.

“I really think he was probably just being polite,” said Blue, patting Gansey’s hand consolingly.

Gansey looked down into his drink. “I, well…I mean, I suppose,” he said, “That’s…I was probably too forward, wasn’t I? It’s just—he really did seem like he was leaving an opening, of some sort, and…and then Ronan was so sure he was going to be here, too, so, I thought, maybe—“

Noah blew a raspberry. “I wouldn’t judge things based on Ronan’s behavior too much right now, man, he’s been moody again lately.”

“Has he?”

“Yeah,” said Noah. “Which. Probably because he hates change and all and he can tell that you’ve found a new friend maybe, but, still. Guy’s acting like the world is ending over you having a mechanic you like talking to, what else is new?”

“Bold words from the one person in the group who didn’t have to deal with the Ronan Lynch Cold Shoulder™,” Henry shot back, grinning.

“I am like, the biggest outlier possible, man,” said Noah. “Literally nothing about me is normal here. I cannot be factored into this set of calculations. The _point_ is, I’ve _seen_ him be a bastard about new friends twice over now, and he thinks it’s happening again and he’s being jealous and moody like he always is, and I’m pretty sure he used the possibility of the guy showing up as an excuse to go sulk about it somewhere.”

“Sounds about right,” Blue muttered.

“Guys, please,” said Gansey, running a hand through his hair. “It’s—Ronan’s allowed to struggle with new things, that’s…fine. In any case, it’s—“

He looked down at his drink again. “I’m afraid I’ve already ruined the mood, haven’t I. Inviting someone none of you all know at the spur of the moment, and actually expecting him to show up when, frankly, I was well out of line…”

“Hey, none of that,” said Henry, nudging Gansey. “Look, man, it’s okay to be disappointed, but don’t take it too hard, alright? We can still have fun, just the four of us.”

“Oh, yeah, I can try my hand at being a _fourth_ wheel,” Noah said, earning a giggle from Blue. “That’s a new one for me. Hold on, lemme do the math on how to accidentally cockblock you guys.”

“Do be careful with that,” said Henry, “It’s harder than you think. I mean, I had a whole year’s road trip to do so and I clearly misread an instruction somewhere.”

Gansey tried to keep in the moment, he really did, but his mind floated off to Adam again. He had seemed to snap back into his more restrained persona after Gansey had made the offer, but, well, they’d seemed to on the whole be making a lot of bridges, and he’d been so hopeful—and Ronan in particular had seemed so _sure_ that Adam would come, too…

He felt a bony elbow gently nudge his ribs. “Hey,” Blue said, softly, underneath the still-going sound of Noah and Henry seeing how long they could keep the jokes going, “Seriously, are you okay? I know this sorta thing tends to get to you.”

Gansey pulled his mouth into a half-smile he knew wouldn’t reach his eyes. “I…I am somewhat hurt, yes. It’s hard not to blame myself.”

Her fingers twined with his under the table. “Look,” she said, “If he was acting more friendly like you say, he probably wasn’t offended or uncomfortable or anything? From what you’ve said, it just sounds like he’s slow to trust.” She reflected his half-smile back at him, but hers did spark in her eyes, far more sincere. “Take it from someone who’s had to work jobs with a lot of potential for annoying customers—if he didn’t like you, he wouldn’t have bothered with talking to you more than absolutely necessary, and he _definitely_ wouldn’t have stuck his neck out in a way that could cost him his job.”

“I mean, he did say that he probably wouldn’t get fired over it, just yelled at.”

“ _Pshaw.”_ She huffed, rolling her eyes. “So what? It’s still more hassle than anyone in that position’s gonna put up with over someone who they can’t stand. He does like you, Gansey, I don’t think you read that wrong. He’s probably just not quite ready to go for something like this.”

“Fair enough,” said Gansey with a sigh, his eyes drifting over the rest of the hybrid restaurant-bar, not really picking out anything in particular. Neon signs and framed kitschy paintings and posters of all sorts plastered all over the walls. A few other occupied tables. A young man with wavy, uneven hair talking to the woman up front. Some folks nursing drinks before an uninterested bartender.“I just…Wait.” His eyes snapped back towards the front of the bar as his brain caught up with his eyes. He almost hadn’t recognized the man out of his work clothes, but—“Adam! Adam, over here!”

Noah nearly spat out some of his drink. “Wait, shit, what, he’s here?”

“Oh, well, fuck me I guess,” said Blue, cheerfully enough that Gansey knew not to worry. “Nevermind. Guess he was ready.”

It took a second for Adam to spot them—he perked up immediately when Gansey called his name, but looked all over the bar before seeing Gansey’s frantically waving arm. Gansey saw him politely nod to the woman up front, before stepping quickly over towards their table, at which everyone other than Gansey was now turning in seats or craning necks to get a good look at the newcomer.

“Sorry I’m late,” Adam said, once he was near enough. “Decided to come kind of last minute.”

“Not at all, I’m just glad you made it! Ah, everyone, this is Adam, Adam, this is Henry, Noah, Jane—“

“Stop,” said Blue, rollingher eyes. “My name is _Blue,_ Gansey’s just a weirdo who forgets that the nickname that I barely tolerate from him is not what I want anyone else calling me.”

Adam…paused, just a moment too long, a strange expression on his face as he looked at Blue. It was just a split second, really, but Gansey saw it, and, by the slight tension at his side, he could tell that Blue had noticed as well. Not for the first time that evening, he felt hope and excitement dip into worry. But then, Adam’s mouth twitched in something approximating a smile, the moment broken. “Right,” he said. “Pleasure to meet you all,” he added, looking around at the table again and biting his lip for a moment before picking out a seat with a similar meticulous care to that he had taken to pour over the Pig’s engine.

“At last, we have a face to match to Richardman’s wizard,” Henry said, smiling broadly. “We’ve had glowing reviews so far.”

Adam blinked, then looked at Gansey. “You’ve been talking about me?”

Gansey could _feel_ the blush threatening and fought it with all he had. “I mean, it’s—“

“Of course he did,” said Henry, “How could he not boast of the mechanical miracle worker?”

Blue saved Gansey from further embarrassment by gently shoving Henry’s arm. “He did at least need to tell us enough to know you were coming,” she said, and once again Adam’s eyes roved back to her, his expression almost carefully blank. “And what to expect, and stuff.” She leaned back, meeting his blank expression with a challenging glance. “More or less,” she added.

“He also informed us all about how you’re going to steal him away from us—“

“Henry,” said Gansey, “We did talk, I’m quite certain, about how you should please not scare off the new guy right out the gate, didn’t we?”

“Must you spoil my fun,” Henry said, very obviously unbothered.

“Sorry,” said Gansey, “He just—he likes to tease me. I get overly excited about new people sometimes, I’ll own that.”

“Right.” Adam fiddled with a napkin for a second. Gansey didn’t miss another quick sideways glance toward Blue, nor the way she tensed up again at his side. He could feel himself tensing up, as well, and returned her earlier gesture of twining fingers together under the table, as Adam spoke up again,“Um. ‘Us?’ Like, as a friend group, or—“

“Ah,” Gansey said, suddenly very interested in the wood grain of their table. “That’s. Well.”

“Gansey,” said Blue, “Did you maybe forget to tell him something?”

“There wasn’t really a good moment, you know. Not the sort of thing I usually like to bring up in hugely public places, you know? Especially not those dominated by a bunch of middle-aged men who probably wouldn’t…approve. On a number of levels. Um. Even if it were the sort of thing you just spontaneously drop on someone.”

Blue pursed her lips, her eyes still locked directly on to Adam, who was staring down at the table for now, and then shrugged. “I mean, fair enough. It shouldn’t be a big enough deal that you have to make a whole show out of it anyway, so.”

“Well,” said Gansey, hesitant. “I mean, it shouldn’t, but, um—“

“Um?” said Adam.

“We’re a triad,” said Blue. “Me, Gansey, and Henry.”

“I’m a fourth wheel because my roommate’s a bastard,” Noah added cheerfully.

“Boo, party foul! You already made the fourth wheel joke tonight,” Henry cut in.

“Adam wasn’t here for it, man, shut up!”

“Points deducted!”

_“Pbbbbt.”_

“Oh,” said Adam.

“That a problem?” Blue said, her gaze turning hard. Gansey held his breath. It’d been a while since she’d last had any sort of outburst at anyone in public, and while the last one had been fairly justified, Gansey _really_ wanted this to go over well…

“No? Why would it be?” Adam shrugged. “It’s not like it affects me any.”

“Hm,” said Blue, sitting back. She was returning Adam’s carefully blank look with a much more suspicious one, now, but seemed satisfied with the answer for the moment.

“Jane,” Gansey said, under his breath, “You know I love you and your outspokenness, but I do also really like Adam, please be nice…”

“I will if he stops looking at me like that,” Blue muttered back.

“Like you said before,” Gansey said, “He might just be out of his element. Please, give him a chance.”

“Hmph.”

“Right, um. So. I don’t actually know what’s—if you guys are regulars, you’d know what’s good to get here, right?” Adam said, hurriedly grabbing a menu.

“Oh, yeah, we got you, man. What d’ya like?” said Noah, leaning over the table.

“Ideally nothing too strong, I try not to drink much,” Adam said. He was largely avoiding looking at Blue, now.

“Then why’d you come out for drinks?”

“My girlfriend has some plans with her friends tonight,” Adam shrugged. “And I don’t really have anything to do. Thought it sounded better than just sitting alone at home.” He shot Gansey a nervous version of the lopsided smile that was so quickly growing on him. “So, like I said, kind of a last minute decision, or I woulda been here sooner.”

“Alright, no worries, my roomie’s not a big drinker either,” Noah chimed. “Here, this stuff’s pretty good…”

Chatter continued for a while, but despite Noah and Henry turning on their full welcoming charm, Adam still seemed largely closed off, even if he loosened up a bit at times when Gansey spoke to him. It wasn’t the customer-service-mode, exactly, but it was similarly polite and restrained, keeping them at an arm’s distance. He laughed at jokes, he smiled at times, he answered questions when asked, but he deflected attention away from himself, and he kept shooting those furtive glances toward Blue. And Gansey could feel Blue winding up like a spring at his side, her patience wearing rapidly thin, and before he could step in to defuse again—

“Okay, seriously,” she snapped, one hand falling flat on the table and making Adam jump, “You’ve been side-eying me this whole time, what’s your deal? You have a problem with me?”

“Oh, I don’t—there’s no problem at all, I’m just. Um.” He swallowed. “Do you…do you remember me, by any chance?”

“Remember?” Gansey asked, blinking.

“Why would I remember you? We’ve never met before.” Blue said, looking similarly off guard.

“Not…not technically, no,” said Adam, his words very slow and deliberate. “But we went to the same high school, I think.”

She shot him her most piercingly unimpressed look. “I really doubt that, buddy, I’m not from D.C.”

“I mean, I’m not, either,” said Adam. “Mountain View, down in Henrietta, yeah? With that one science teacher who set her hair on fire that one time by accident. One of the kids was really not paying attention during a lab, and stuff got way out of hand. Right?”

Everyone else at the table shot each other a collection of surprised looks as Blue blinked. “Oh,” she said.And then, “Huh.”

“You’ve got a pretty unforgettable sense of style,” said Adam, crooked smile made more so by nerves. “In a good way. So.”

“I don’t—I didn’t recognize you at all, I’m sorry,” she said, wincing.

Adam waved it off, actually seeming to relax a lot. “Doesn’t surprise me. I kinda kept out of everyone’s way, honestly. We only shared a couple classes, I think, and we definitely never talked.”

Blue seemed like she was about to say something, but before she got the chance, Henry threw his head back with a laugh. “Incredible, Richardman. A whole city’s worth of mechanics and you manage to find the one who’s from Henrietta. You could have mentioned!”

“I didn’t know!” Gansey stammered, shocked. “I’m—really? That’s incredible, Adam! That’s…”

“I mean, small world, I guess?” Adam said meekly.

“No, no, we’re—the rest of us all went to Aglionby, we’re all very familiar with Henrietta, it’s—what are the odds?”

“You sniffed him out, Three,” Henry grinned. “Like a bloodhound. Hunted him down like that dead king of yours.”

“I mean, we never actually _found_ him, I don’t see how that’s really a fair comparison—I just. I can’t believe we missed you somehow!”

“It’s not _that_ small a town,” Adam said. “And like I said, I kinda kept out of the way.” He sipped at his drink briefly, and then added, “I mean, I used to work at Boyd’s, so I might have fixed one of your cars at some point.”

“Probably not mine unless you were working there since you were like, a baby,” Noah commented. “And you’d remember the Pig.”

“True,” said Adam. “Um. Are you older, then? Or…”

“Four years, yep. I’m—oh, shit, I can explain this way easier since you’re from Henrietta. Hey, you know how there was that one kid who was like, in the hospital in a coma for a whole year and then woke up outta nowhere?”

“Noah,” said Gansey, “that’s really not first-time-friends-over-dinner conversation, maybe—“

“I. I remember that story, I think?” said Adam, hesitant. “He was a raven boy, wasn’t he?”

“Yup! Me!” Noah said, cheerful.

“ _Noah._ ”

“Look, man, it’s gonna come up at some point, we may as well rip the bandaid off! Anyway, you heard him, he knows the story already.”

“Wait, wait, seriously? That was you?!” Adam said, eyes wide.

“Yup! Check it out, got a nasty scar and everything—“

“Noah!!”

“It’s healed as fuck, man, it’s not like, gross, calm down! It’s all the proof I _got_ right now, anyway.” Unphased, Noah brushed some of his hair to the side, giving a better look at the vivid white scar usually hidden by his bangs.

“Oh my god,” said Adam, soft.

“Yep! Looks a lot better now than it did back when my fuckin’ roommate decided to bash my head in, I’ll tell ya what.”

Gansey, in his hands, groaned. “Noah, please, I am begging. I will get on my knees.”

Noah shrugged and leaned back. “Look, man, the whole traumatic brain injury thing’s gonna come up at some point, we might as well get it over with. I don’t even have to go through the whole story this time, too, do you know how rare that is for me all the way out here?”

“You kinda did get into the whole story anyway, there, Czerny,” Henry said, grinning.

“What? Oh. Fuck, I did, didn’t I, whoops.”

Adam laughed. “Sorry, I’m—I don’t mean to—it’s fine, I just, I really didn’t expect that.”

“Me, neither, that’s how the coma happened.”

_“NOAH.”_

“I’m not sorry.”

Gansey ran a hand through his hair, groaning. “Adam, I’m sorry, I—“

Except Adam was laughing again, the tension he’d held all night rapidly slipping away. “It’s—it’s fine,” he said, “Nothing to apologize for, I can handle a little gallows humor.”

“Ah, a man of culture,” Henry crowed.

Gansey sat back, feeling some of his own tension drop off as the others continued to chatter. It wasn’t very often he made a new friend, frankly, and even less often that he felt enough of a connection to introduce them to the rest of the group; usually the event of doing so involved a lot of friction, but this was—he was slotting in so effortlessly, it seemed. In fact, Gansey realized with a small bit of warmth, Adam actually looked the happiest he’d seemed in all the time Gansey had known him.

Gansey’s smile fell a little. Of course, the whole group wasn’t here, right now. Ronan’s absence stung, but, well, if he were here…

He shook his head. He was being awfully presumptuous, he knew; even if Adam seemed to be having a good time right now, there was no guarantee that he’d be coming back. He shouldn’t get his hopes up, he knew, and if Adam decided this was just a one-time thing, then it wouldn’t matter how Ronan asked.

But…He checked his own texts for a moment, briefly, reading back over part of the exchange he’d had with Ronan a couple days before about Adam:

GANSEY: In any case it’s really more of a maybe  
GANSEY: But I’m hopeful!  
RONAN: did you insult his family  
GANSEY: What?  
RONAN: impugn his honor  
GANSEY: I don’t follow.  
RONAN: gansey  
RONAN: did you piss him off  
GANSEY: I don’t…think so? He seemed to be warming up to me more than anything.  
RONAN: then hell be there  
RONAN: which means i wont  
RONAN: fuck that

He bit his lip, shook his head, and put his phone away.

“What’s up? Did Ronan decide he’s not gonna ditch after all?” Noah’s voice cut back through Gansey’s reverie.

“Ah, no, sorry, just checking something!” Gansey said, putting the phone away. “Anyway, what was that about the science teacher? There’s got to be more to that story.”

“Oh, she was honestly pretty ridiculous all around,” Blue cut in. “Stuff like that happened in her class all the time, it was _nuts…”_

…And as the night wore on, Gansey became more and more at peace. He’d worry about Ronan next week—-and he would need to, when that time came; Adam never made any promises, but he’d been a lot more unguarded by the time they all left, and the last bit of confirmation for Gansey came in the form of Blue managing to convince Adam to trade cell phone numbers with her.

“Well,” Gansey said, after he, Henry, and Blue had made sure Noah would get home safely, and had all piled into the Pig to head back to their own home, “What did you think?”

“I like him,” said Blue. “I’m sorry for snapping at him earlier in the night. You were right, he’s just slow to warm up. I don’t think he’s shy, though, he seemed more…watchful.”

“And at least I have a face, now, to the man who’s going to—“

“Henry, I swear to _God.”_

“I mean, I can hardly blame you, he is indeed very cute.”

Blue threw back her head and laughed, and, his own smile threatening to devour his face, Gansey started the car and headed off for home.

**Author's Note:**

> no idea how long this one's gonna be but i hope some of you'll enjoy the ride with me! thanks for reading!


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